Rabat – Spanish coast guards have rescued 200 undocumented migrants who embarked from Morocco on inflatable boats.
A spokesperson from the Spanish Sea Rescue Service told AFP that coast guards made the rescue of people from three makeshift boats throughout the day on Tuesday, December 24.
The list of irregular migrants includes men, women, and children.
During the night, the coast guard rescued 11 people in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar. They arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
The spokesperson said that 61 more people were rescued in the Affarain Islands. Coast guards then transported them to the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
The guards rescued another 61 irregular migrants who arrived at the Alboran Islet, 57 kilometers from the Moroccan coast.
Members of the Spanish coast guard also rescued 22 migrants who wanted to reach the Canary Islands.
The operation is part of efforts to combat irregular migration and rescue people who take risky boats to reach Europe.
Morocco, both a transit and host country to immigrants, has also been intensifying efforts to combat irregular migration networks.
According to the latest statistics from Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), police arrested 505 organizers of undocumented migration involved in 62 criminal networks that traffic people in 2019.
Operations against irregular migration resulted in the arrest of 27,317 would-be migrants, including 20,141 of foreign nationality. Moroccans represented 26% of those arrested trying to migrate without documents.
